Veolia Opens Major PFAS Treatment Plant, Supplying Clean Water to 100,000+ in Delaware

At a time when water is more vital than ever for public health and environmental protection, Veolia has built one of the largest PFAS treatment systems in the United States and the largest of its kind in the Northeast. The Stanton Water Treatment Plant will remove regulated PFAS compounds from drinking water and ensure high-quality drinking water for over 100,000 residents, fully meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) PFAS regulations. It establishes a replicable model for cost-effective PFAS treatment projects in water systems globally.

The $35 million facility is in addition to 33 existing PFAS treatment systems Veolia already operates for water customers in the United States. Veolia will continue to install treatment systems to achieve PFAS treatment at more than 100 water production sites in the country in the coming years, which will help secure high-quality drinking water for almost 2 million people and comply with regulations in the most cost-effective way possible.

Veolia’s experience meeting the challenge in America has built a strong foundation to do it across the globe. The successful delivery of PFAS treatment for drinking water in Delaware exemplifies how Veolia’s BeyondPFAS offering of end-to-end solutions can manage PFAS from testing through treatment and responsible disposal.

About the plant
Veolia began designing the Stanton PFAS system in early 2022, ahead of the new EPA regulations for some PFAS levels in drinking water, and worked methodically to deliver a state-of-the-art plant that minimized construction costs and left maximum flexibility for the future. It took three years to design and build the 17,600-square-foot facility which features 42 large vessels, each 22 feet high and filled with 40,000 pounds of granular activated carbon. The vessels are designed and optimized for the carbon material to adsorb regulated PFAS compounds from up to 30 million gallons of water per day that enters the plant from two nearby rivers. The massive vessels were installed first and the building was constructed around them, requiring precise coordination and timing during the construction process.

The plant includes a laboratory to continually test new filtration media and treatment methods, providing additional flexibility and cost savings in the future.

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